Bowling Industry News

In the last round of the eliminator finals between England's PBA champion, three-time PBA titlist Dominic Barrett (pictured left with the trophy) used a 181-160 win to defeat one-time PBA titlist Stuart Williams (right), 671-610, en route to win his 9th career European Bowling Tour title, 8.000 Euro and 150 ranking points.

Williams, who was targeting to win his seventh EBT title, received 5.000 Euro and 120 point for second place.

A total of 48 players advanced to the finals of the 10th San Marino Open Sunday at Rose'n Bowl in Serravalle. The top 8 qualifiers received two byes and qualifiers 9-16 got a first-round bye. The field was trimmed to 32, 18 and then four, who determined the winner in an eliminator-format finals.

Joachim Karlsson (below left) of Sweden averaged 244.65 for six games to lead the Round of 18 with 1465 including games of 207, 276, 266, 227, 278 and 211. Williams was second on 1415 with Barrett further 14 pins behind in third place with 1401. Swede Markus Jansson (above right) closed his set with a big 243 game for 1367 to beat out PBA champions Thomas Larsen (1366) of Denmark, Brian Voss (1358) and Tommy Jones (1353), United States, for the fourth and last spot to advance to the eliminator finals. Karlsson and Jansson were targeting to win their first career EBT title.

Qualifying leader, two-time PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (below left), Finland/USA, toppled 1250 pins to finish in 13th place. 17th Rebecka Larsen (below right) of Sweden was the lone woman in the finals and won the women's ranking in San Marino.

The four finalists bowled the opening game from scratch, with the lowest-scoring player being eliminated. Karlsson started with a big 259 game and the two Englishmen tied at 234. Jansson struggled and was eliminated with 157 to finish in fourth place worth 2.400 Euro.

Pins carried over to the next rounds and the same "low man out" format applied. Karlsson, suffered a 179 game, Williams had 216 for 450 and Barrett overtook the lead with 256 and 490. Karlsson was eliminated with 438 to land in third place, worth 3.300 Euro.

The 10th Storm San Marino Open was the 10th stop of the 2014 European Bowling Tour and the third out of six EBT "Gold" tournaments this season. The 10th anniversary edition was held July 12-20 at 18-lane Rose'n Bowl in Serravalle, San Marino and offered total prize fund of 60.000 Euro.

Qualifying of the San Marino Open (six-game series, unlimited re-entries) ran from Saturday July 12 through Saturday, July 19. Women received 8 pins handicap each game throughout the entire tournament, a standard for women on the European Bowling Tour.

A total of 48 players advanced to the finals on Sunday, July 20, including the top 35 qualifiers plus the top 3 from the squads conducted on July 12-13, the top 3 from the squads conducted on July 14-15, the top 4 from the squads conducted on July 16-17, and the top 3 from the Desperado Squad.

The top 8 qualifiers received two byes and qualifiers 9-16 got a first-round bye. The other 32 players bowled four games from scratch to cut to the top 16, who met qualifiers 9-16 in round two. Those 24 bowled another 4 games from scratch to cut to the top 8, who joined the top eight in the last six-game round before the cut to the top 4.

Those four determined the winner in an eliminator-format finals which featured three one-game rounds. All four players bowled the opening game, with the lowest-scoring player being eliminated. In the two rounds to follow, the same "low man out" format applied. The last man standing was declared the champion.